How To Grill The Perfect Hamburger For A Picnic Barbecue

Everyone that plans a picnic usually wants to invite the entire family including the uncle that talks too much, the young nephew who is spoiled rotten, the sister who can't stop sharing and the cousin who simply doesn't get that he's too obnoxious for prime time.

Everybody tries to get along and enjoy each other's company while sharing some food and sunshine. This usually takes place at a nice park somewhere that has amenities such as grills, picnic tables, bathrooms and trees. So you plan this big picnic everyone shows up and at the end of it all, you end up having such a good time that you can't wait for next year and decide to make it an annual event. After you get back home, unpack everything and finally find the time to sit in your favorite easy chair, you think back on the days events. What made it a success other than your family being fun and entertaining? The Food!

If you are like me you want the basics at your picnic to eat. This would include drinks, chips, dip, snacks, hot dogs and hamburgers. Don't bother bringing fruit. Nobody will eat it and it will attract flies. Focus on the basics. This means cooking an outstanding burger that will evoke the waiting taste buds of everyone there and make them beg to come back to one of your picnic outings. Before you even begin to cook this superb example of meat between buns, you should previsualize what people may say after biting into one of your burgers. You may picture them saying things like "That was the best hamburger I've ever eaten" or "This is to die for!" OK, now that you are armed with pre-positive feed back it's time to begin.

Start with the hamburger meat. It should be lean ground chuck or Angus ground sirloin. Ground Buffalo meat is also a great alternative because it is both tasty a lean. However for me, there is still all that guilt about almost wiping out the Buffalo during the 1800s, so I use Angus. If your local grocery store doesn't have what you need, try a good meat market that specializes in quality meats. It's best to prep the hamburgers before going on your picnic. Make each patty about a half a pound and perfectly round. I use a big round cookie cutter after rolling the hamburger out flat. This gives me a consistent size and makes the work go faster. Also, it stops the obnoxious cousin from trying to compare the size of his burger with your sister's. Place all the patties on pieces of wax paper to separate them in stacks. Some people will marinate the meat before hand but I prefer to do it right before we grill.

Next choose a good bag of charcoal briquettes that will add that smokey flavor to the meat. Use as many as it will take for the grill you are using. I like to spread everything out in an even pile, get them lit and wait for them to appear ashen white before beginning the grilling.

Finally, after the charcoal is ready you can begin grilling. Season each burger with salt and pepper to let the meat's natural flavor come out. Sometimes I will start with a coating of olive oil over the meat to keep it juicy, but there is usually plenty of grease in the meat if you don't over cook. Cooking times will vary but choose a test subject to cut into at different stages of cooking to see when some of the hamburgers are medium rare to well done. Bring all of the basic condiments like mustard, ketchup, pickles, onions and lettuce. I also bring some jalapeños, gourmet cheeses, garlic and barbeque sauce. For buns you should always use whole wheat. Not only are they healthy, but they taste great too. Try coating the inside of the buns with olive oil and toasting some on the grill. This adds to the flavor.

All of the preparation and cooking really doesn't take that much time, but the culinary rewards are extremely high, at least from a picnic frame of reference. Have fun!

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